14 DAY TRIAL // According to recent SEC filings, Apple's retail locations had 14,000 full-time employees at the end of Q2 2009. The figures show a 1,600 drop from the previous quarter, with the average revenue per store declining by 17%, falling to $5.9 million from $7.1 million in 2008. Nevertheless, Apple's revenue grew more than 8% year over year.
InformationWeek points out that the move could signal a slowdown in retail expansion, as the company adjusts to what COO Tim Cook called a “horrendous economy.” Apple has reported decreased retail margins for Q2 2009, opening just one new retail store, compared to the average of 15 new ones in previous quarters. In 2008, the report outlines, the Mac maker opened some 45 stores, whereas 2009 has just 25 brick-and-mortar stores scheduled for opening.
Although Apple has acknowledged a definite weakness in the spending environment, it still trusts its stores to continue to attract crowds. During the last quarter, for example, the company's stores were visited by almost 40 million people. Those indivduals also bought almost half a million Macs. Half of them had never owned a Mac.
Apple announced last week its best “non-holiday” quarter, with slightly decreased Macintosh sales, and flourishing iPhone and iPod sales. As such, the company is focusing its efforts on the iPhone segment. The device sold some 3.79 million units last quarter, according to Apple's disclosures. However, the device is also sold via AT&T's stores, Wal-Mart, Best Buy, and so on, leaving much fewer iPhones being sold at Apple's own retail stores.
Apple added in its SEC filing that these stores required a “substantial investment in fixed assets and related infrastructure, operating lease commitments, personnel, and other operating expenses. [...] The company would incur substantial costs if it were to close multiple retail stores.”
Update: according to All Things Digital's MediaMemo, Apple's retail group had “approximately 14,000 full-time equivalent employees” at the end of March. Three months earlier, that number had been 15,600. The numbers do not represent actual employees, but full-time equivalents - an accounting term that measures the number of man-hours Apple is paying for. Hence, there is a strong possibility that Apple has merely cut some hours for full-time workers.